The Task at Hand
The project we were assigned to do was to create a music video for a song. In the creation process of our music video we were set out to find already existing music videos to gain inspiration from. We had chosen the song "Talia" by King Princess to create a music video. The idea we had for the video was that we would have one set of scenes take place in a darker color scheme and the other set take place in a lighter color scheme. I had already had a pretty good idea of what the lighter scenes were going to look like but I need a visual video to show how the darker scenes were going to look like. On my search I found the music video for The Weekends song "Call Out My Name". This video was exactly what I was looking for: the color scheme matched, the shots used, and the camera movement were what I was imagining but couldn't quiet explain in words. While I didn't exactly like the whole video, the parts I did like stuck with me enough to remember and use the video for a large part of my inspiration. (The Weekend. "The Weekend-Call Out My Name (Official Video)". Online video. Youtube. Youtube, 12 April 2018. Web. 24 September 2018).
Call Out My Name
The story of "Call Out My Name" centers around a break up and someone trying to get over it but is having a hard time. They portray this by having dark colors and never really bringing in any light shades. The camera movements also adds to the story because them not being stationary allows the viewer to feel the turmoil and energy that the person is feeling. There are also visuals and effects that are supposed to help depict the loneliness the person is going through and how they feel inside. Through the use of camera movements, colors, and effects, the "Call Out My Name"video is able to tell the story of someone not over a break up and is longing for the other person.
My Viewing Experience
Overall, I throughly enjoyed the music video and was able to draw several pieces of inspiration from it. One of the biggest parts I pulled from this video, or at least tried to emulate, was the lower camera angle and the type of movement the camera had. This was one of the biggest ideas I had for the darker colored scheme part due to the mood and emotion it gave across. One thing that I saw in the video that I have already learned how to do is the coloring in the video not only in lights but also in post-production. One item that the video did was really well was using color and cinematography to capture and translate the mood that song and singer are conveying. The colors show the darker, sadder mood of the song while the camera movements shows all the twisted, confusing emotions and thoughts the person is having as well making the audience feel a little of it as well. However, I think it could be improved on toning down some of the effects because they got confusing and distracting at times.
This video really gave me some good ideas for my music videos and helped solidify some ideas that weren't fully put together.
My group and I decided to create a commercial advertising Apple iPhone. We chose this product because we though we could make a really cool video and come with an interesting concept. Once we had a product picked out, we started brainstorming ideas for the videos. After we went through a few ideas we decided to have three students in our video and follow them around during their school day, showing all the features in the iPhone and how they can be used for school purposes. At the very end of the video it would be revealed that all the students now each other, using the airdrop feature to share a picture and bring the students together. The feature showcased in the video were StudentVUE with Touch ID, Apple Music, Notes, Calculator, the camera, water resistance, as well as the previously mentioned airdrop. Each of the students was assigned two features and would use them in the video. Overall, the concept of the video was to show how iPhones could be useful to students.
Growing the Apple
One of the first things we did as a part of Pre-Production was decide who would take on what roles, I was editor. Once we had decided our roles we started to plan out and talk about how we wanted the video to look with our concept. We though of shots we wanted, the order the features would go in, how many people we would need, props, and so on. After a little bit of discussion we started to work on the script and story board to put our image down on on paper, I worked on the script with the help of Cas and Josh as Cas worked on the storyboard next to me. As work on the script and storyboard we were thinking of the people that would be in it and who we would ask. Since there was three of in the group and we needed three actors we were all supposed to bring in one person. Once we finished writing the script, storyboard, and had our actors we filmed. Filming took about an hour or two for about three days for all of the video. We used classrooms, outside of school, and our school lunch room to film since the video took place a school. When editing came around we had to cut a lot of the shots we had out and rearrange the story a little bit due to the commercial time constraint and due to the quality of some shots. I was able to find some really good shots and was still able to bring the story together how we originally wanted. After I cut the shots to the right length and arranged them in the best order I could figure out I started correcting the lighting and sharpening up some of the shots to make them less blurry. At the end of the video we put a video of the Apple logo that we found on YouTube because we didn't have time to create our own. With that logo came music and it was decided to use that play throughout the whole video instead of the music we had originally used. Adding the music was the last piece that had to be added and once that was done we exported.
Helping the Apple Grow
My production role was editor of the video. Along the way I learned how sometimes you have to cut some clips in order to make the story make sense and that you won't be able to use some due to something be wrong with it. I also learned how to stabilize shots, correct lighting, and increase the sharpness of shots. One of the big things I learned was how to do split screens with three different clips.
Meeting Standards
I personally think this whole project was a mess. In reality, I think our technical skills were poor. Some of the shots could have had more light by opening up the iris or could've been more in focus. This affected the overall look of the commercial and didn't make it as clean because you can fix some of it in post but it won't look as good. However, we did have some really good clips that I'm proud of and look very good. Our communication could've been better as well. In Pre-Production it was really good, we were listening to each others ideas and trying to find ways to incorporate most of them and if we didn't like an idea we were nice about it. On the other hand during Production and in Post communication was not as good as it could've been. When it came to shooting we didn't communicate about what we thought of some shots and didn't clearly express how they could've been made better. Then in Post, if I didn't like an idea I wasn't good at communicating that but instead just went along with it. The same kind of goes for collaboration, it was really good in the beginning and stayed good throughout the whole process it just declined a little. Leadership was also kind of a mess. Our director did a really good at making sure we were all on track, making sure things were getting done, and helping where help was needed. I fell bad, however, because I felt like I was taking a leadership role as well and overshadowing the actual director and I feel bad about that but I seem to do it in all group projects. Overall, I think leadership was good I just feel bad for overshadowing at points. I think project management went well, we got the project done.
For Next Time
If I had to do this project again I would probably want to be either cinematographer and editor, director and editor, or just be more out spoken about my thoughts to ensure that our video was to the best quality it could be. I would also want a better filming schedule because ours for this video was kind of chaotic. However, there are thing I would keep the same. Somethings I would keep the same is the product and the concept because I think that they were really cool and could have been sleek and appealing to watch.
Having All The Ingredients
As a whole I think our commercial met most of the objectives of a commercial. I think we met the emotional connection with it being students allowing other students to be able to relate to how it feels to be in school as well as having something available that makes it easier. Even though we should the phone and its functions throughout the commercial we kept the information limited by not having a voice over talking about the phone. Our call to action would be the animated Apple logo at the end; even though this isn't like the old fashioned call to actions the logo still has the same purpose. Our commercial also has positive association and trust building by showing the phone in multiple situations and by people who look trustworthy. I think our key principles of film making could've been better. The writing, audio, and editing were pretty strong but I think the directing, lighting, and cinematography could've been better.
Overall
Overall I think this commercial could've been better and I'm not that proud of it.
